ISSUES

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US-Israel Relationship

Israel welcomes ‘courageous’ US pullout from UN Human Rights Council

Israel on Tuesday night welcomed an announcement that the United States will withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, praising the move as a “courageous decision against the hypocrisy and the lies” of the international body that UN ambassador Nikki Haley said harbors bias against the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US...

Hamas

Gaza tensions flare: IDF strikes 8 more Hamas targets as rockets barrage south

Tensions flared on Israel’s border with Gaza early Wednesday morning as the IDF carried out a second round of overnight airstrikes on Hamas targets in response to a barrage of rockets fired from the Strip towards Israeli territory.

The IDF said fighter jets struck eight further “terror targets” on three separate Hamas military bases in the south...

US-Israel Relationship

U.S. Announces Its Withdrawal From U.N.’s Human Rights Council

After more than a year of complaints and warnings — some subtle and others a little less so — the Trump administration has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the decision in a joint statement to the media...

US-Israel Relationship

Source: US to Withdraw From UN Human Rights Body

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will announce on Tuesday that the United Sates is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Trump administration source told Reuters.

The United States is half-way through a three-year term on the main UN rights body and had long threatened to...

Iran

Iran Regime Rejects Talks With Trump Administration on Ballistic Missile Program

Iran has no plans to extend the range of its missiles since their 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) reach is enough to protect the country, the Revolutionary Guards commander said on Tuesday, amid mounting US pressure over Tehran’s missile program.

Iran‘s government again ruled out negotiations with US President Donald Trump over Tehran’s military...

US-Israel Relationship

US Senate approves $500m for Israel’s missile defense program

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the US Senate yesterday allocates $500 million for Israeli missile programs and $50 million for a joint US-Israeli program for combating the tunnels threat.

This is the first time that military aid to Israel has been determined under the memorandum of understanding between Israel and the US...

Hamas

Israeli Girl Stabbed by Palestinian Terrorist in Afula: It’s a ‘Miracle’ I’m Alive

The 18-year-old Israeli girl who was seriously wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack in Afula earlier this week said on Sunday it was a “miracle” she was still alive, the Hebrew news site Walla reported.

Speaking from Haemek Medical Center, where her condition has begun to improve, high school student Shuva Malka said, “I feel this stabbing...

Israeli Technology

Israeli High Tech Drawing Investors From Beyond The US

Israel’s technology sector is attracting all sorts to its shores, including investors from regions that previously conducted little business in the country, panelists said during Mergermarket’s Israel M&A Forum.

“It used to be the Microsofts and the Ciscos of this world” that came looking for acquisitions in Israel, “now it’s potentially...

Israeli Technology

Nano system delivers anticancer drugs to childhood tumors

A nanotech system invented in Israel for transporting anticancer drugs specifically in pediatric patients has been shown to slow tumor growth and prolong life expectancy in engineered mice by 42 percent. In most of the Western world, cancer is the primary cause of death in children over the age of one.

The new system meets an unmet need because...

Incitement

Bipartisan Bill to Counter Palestinian Textbooks That ‘Demonize Israel’ Introduced in Congress

Members of Congress have brought forward a bipartisan bill to review textbooks and other materials used in Palestinian schools that have been accused of promoting extremism.

The Palestinian Authority Educational Curriculum Transparency Act — introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday by Rep. David Young (R-Iowa) — calls on the US...

US-Israel Relationship

US may leave UN Human Rights Council

A US source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the withdrawal appeared to be “imminent” but had no details.

Diplomatic sources said it was not a question of if but of when the United States retreats from the Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session through July 6.

A separate US official in Geneva had no...

Hamas

Hamas threatens to launch 5,000 fire kites, balloons Friday

Hamas on Thursday threatened to send 5,000 fire kites and balloons deep into Israeli territory on Friday, when the Gaza border will see another of the weekly “March of Return” mass protests, Palestinian and Israeli media reported.

The Palestinian terror group, the de facto ruler in the Strip, said at a press conference that the incendiary devices...

Israeli Technology

Israeli scientists say step taken toward finding treatment for ALS

Researchers at Tel Aviv University say they may have found the basis of what could become a treatment for the devastating neurodegenerative Lou Gehrig disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which causes muscles to atrophy and produces permanent disability in patients.

Currently there is no cure for the illness, and life expectancy of a...

Iran

If deal fails, Iran threatens enrichment of uranium beyond accord’s limitations

An Iranian atomic official threatened Wednesday that should a landmark nuclear deal with world powers fall apart, his country will be ready to begin uranium enrichment beyond the limitations set by the agreement at one of its nuclear facilities and install new equipment at another.

Following the US withdrawal last month from the 2015 agreement,...

US-Israel Relationship

Netanyahu praises Nikki Haley for strong defense of Israel at U.N.

Even before the UN passed a General Assembly condemning Israel for “excessive use of force” in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US ambassador Nikki Haley for Wednesday night her spirited defense of Israel in the U.N. and her efforts to get an amendment to the resolution added that would condemn Hamas for violence.

"Israel...

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Shin Bet says 250 ‘significant terror attacks’ thwarted since January

The head of the Shin Bet security service on Wednesday announced that his organization had foiled some 250 “significant terror attacks” since January, crediting this achievement in part to high-tech surveillance and tracking tools.

Nadav Argaman, who has led the Shin Bet since 2016, noted the changing security threats in Israel and the West Bank,...

US-Israel Relationship

UN to vote on resolution bashing Israel, with US pushing for Hamas condemnation

WASHINGTON — The United Nations General Assembly is slated to vote on a resolution Wednesday condemning Israel for Palestinian deaths in Gaza, a move fiercely opposed by the United States, which is pushing for Hamas to face condemnation.

The 193 nations that make up the world body will vote on an Arab-backed measure that deplores what it calls...

Israeli Technology

Philips buys Israeli cardiac imaging company EPD Solutions

Amsterdam-based consumer electronics giant Royal Philips has announced it will acquire cardiac imaging company EPD Solutions of Caesarea for €250 million ($294 million) and milestone payments. EPD and its employees will become part of Philips’ Image-Guided Therapy business unit.

EPD’s Cardiac Mapping and Navigation System received CE mark...

Israeli Society

‘The ground is so hot it burns through their shoes’

The ground was still smoking from the hot fury of two volcanic eruptions early last week when an Israeli medical team arrived in Guatemala on Thursday night.

Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedic Tal Rabin told ISRAEL21c that the toxic gases released by the Fuego volcano made breathing difficult even through a mask. But much worse was the grim sight...

Israeli Society

Children of Sderot counter kite terror with kite festival

Hundreds of helium balloons and kites bearing flammable materials have been launched from Gaza since March 30, killing wildlife and incinerating thousands of acres of forests and agricultural fields in Israeli border communities.

In a therapeutic response to the kite terrorists operating just 33 kilometers from their city, officials in Sderot...